Arsenal slam FA over Final tickets

Sunday 19 May 2002 23:00 BST

Arsenal have complained to the Football Association about ticketing arrangements for the FA Cup Final.

Arsenal and Chelsea each received 26,000 seats for this month's final at the Millennium Stadium and Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has written a strongly worded letter to FA chief executive Adam Crozier.

Hill-Wood wrote: "I appreciate that the football family grows in size, but so too does our fan base and our staff. I can see, therefore, no reason why the participating clubs should have a reduced allocation.

The FA also reserved the best tickets for commercial packages, some of which were not sold.

Hill-Wood was also shocked to learn the day before the final that Arsenal would not receive any gate receipts because of the FA's desire to increase the competition's prize money.